In general, a yarn feeder associated with a carriage to feed yarn to a needle in a needle bed for the knitting fabric is kept on a standby position outside the fabric knitting region.
In this case, the position of a yarn is lowered proportionately as the yarn feeder greatly moves beyond the boundary with the adjoining knitting area so that the yarn feeding condition can be improved.
Meanwhile, in case of an intarsia knitting operation, such a yarn feeder is released from the entraining device at a position exceeding the boundary with the boundary with the adjacent knitting region.
In the aforementioned structure of the yarn feeding device, it is considered that the amount of swing of the yarn feeder must be sufficiently increased correspondingly to the amount necessitated to retire a yarn extending between the yarn feeder that has stopped inside the adjoining knitting region and the knitted fabric to a position that does not cause any obstruction of the subsequent knitting operation in the next knitting region.
However, if the amount of swing of the yarn feeder is increased, a swinging mechanism of the yarn feeder becomes enlarged and complicated.
Accordingly, there has been proposed by the inventor of the present invention such a yarn feeder of a weft knitting machine, comprising a switching mechanism for switch-swinging the position of the yarn feeding port installed in a feeder case, the switching mechanism further comprising a pressing operation part switch-operating the swinging direction and altitude of the yarn feeding port in association, wherein the said yarn feeder is capable of obtaining the same effect as in a case in which the amount of swinging of a yarn feeder is substantially increased without increasing the amount thereof (See Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1: International Publication WO02-079556